1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switch unit operated by pushing a keypad, and to a portable terminal device having such a switch unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is known a portable terminal device such as a portable telephone or the like, which has a switch unit provided with selector cursor key switches for selecting data displayed on a display portion, and a fixer key switch for fixing the selected data, those switches being operated by pushing keypads. JP-A-9-261311 discloses an example of a portable telephone which uses such selector cursor key switches and a fixer key switch instead of conventional ten-keys (number keys). There is also conventionally known a portable terminal device, such as a portable telephone, having selector cursor key switches and a fixer key in addition to ten-key switches. In such a portable telephone, a housing is generally constituted by a casing 1 and a cover 2 as shown in FIG. 7. In addition, the cover 2 is provided with ten-keypads 3 through which a numerical value such as a phone number or the like is inputted, a selector cursor keypad 4 having a scrolling function, a fixer keypad 5 having a fixer switch function, transmitter and receiver portions 6 and 7, a display portion 8 for displaying input characters or figures, and an antenna 9. To register a phone number in this portable telephone, the selector cursor keypad 4 is first used to confirm a phonebook registration area displayed on a menu section of the display portion 8, and then the fixer keypad 5 is pushed. Thus, registration with a phonebook is permitted. The ten-keypads 3 are pushed in this state to thereby input a name and a phone number to be registered, and then the fixer keypad 5 is pushed to perform registration.
Alternatively, JP-A-8-96665 discloses another multi-input switch for generating a signal corresponding to the tilting direction of an operating shaft tilted by a tilting operation, and a signal corresponding to a push operation. In such a multi-input switch, generally, as shown in FIG. 8, a switch board 13 is disposed on the bottom surface of a switch casing 12 retained in a switch chassis 11, and a first switch 14 is disposed at the center of the top surface of the switch board 13 while a second switch 15 is disposed around the first switch 14. In addition, an operating shaft 16 constituted by a straight rod portion and a flange portion is disposed so that a protrusion portion on the lower surface of the flange portion faces the first and second switches 14 and 15 on the switch board 13, and the straight rod portion projects tiltably on the top surface of the switch casing 12. A switch cad 17 is attached to the top of the projecting straight rod portion.
In addition, JP-A-139880 discloses a multi-input switch in which the tilt of the operating lever brings a movable contact member or a metal operating lever into an electrical connection with a predetermined place of an annular resistor, and makes electrical conduction between the resistor and a fixed electrode, so that an electric signal corresponding to the tilting direction of the operating lever can be extracted. Thus, the multi-input switch can be made small and thin.
In the background-art portable terminal device such as a portable telephone or the like having selector cursor key switches and a fixer key switch and described with reference to FIG. 7, the selector cursor keypad 4 and the fixer keypad 5 are disposed separately, so that the area occupied by the key input portion becomes large as a whole, and it will be an obstacle to prospective miniaturization of the portable terminal device. Thus, it is considered that the multi-input switch disclosed in JP-A-8-96665 described with reference to FIG. 8 is applied to the case where selector cursor key switches and a fixer key switch are disposed adjacently to each other, and the selector cursor key switches and the fixer key switch are integrated. However, in the background-art multi-input switch, as described above, the switch board 13 is disposed on the bottom surface of the switch casing 12 retained in the switch chassis 11, and the first switch 14 is disposed at the center of the top surface of the switch board 13 while the second switch 15 is disposed around the first switch 14. In addition, the operating shaft 16 constituted by the straight rod portion and the flange portion is disposed so that the protrusion portion on the lower surface of the flange portion faces the first and second switches 14 and 15 on the switch board 13, and the straight rod portion projects tiltably on the top surface of the switch casing 12. The switch pad 17 is attached to the top of the projecting straight rod portion. Accordingly, the switch unit is large as a whole, and the structure thereof is complicated, so that the cost increases. As disclosed in JP-A-6-139880, there is another multi-input switch which is designed to extract an electric signal in accordance with the tilting direction of an operating lever without using a push switch, so that the multi-input switch can be made small and thin. However, also in this case, the multi-input switch has a basic structure similar to that shown in FIG. 8. That is, the switch unit is large as a whole, and the structure is complicated, so that the cost increases.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a switch unit operated by pushing a keypad, the switch unit being reduced in size and simplified in structure in order to reduce the cost, while two kinds of switches can be disposed adjacently to each other. It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable terminal device in which the above-mentioned switch unit is used so that the portable terminal device can be reduced in space for a key input portion, and in size and cost as s whole, and is superior in operation performance.
According to the present invention, there is provided a switch unit in which two layers of printed boards are provided with switches respectively so that the switches can be operated by pushing keypads provided on the housing. In addition, according to the present invention, such a switch unit is used in the portable terminal device.
According to this switch unit, two kinds of switches can be allocated to two layers of printed boards so as to be disposed adjacently to each other in planar view. Accordingly, keypads for the switches can be disposed at a place, and also can be made into one keypad miniaturized by integral forming, so that the switch unit can be miniaturized. In addition, the switches are disposed at high and low levels separately. The degree of freedom on mechanism is therefore increased so that the structure can be simplified, and the cost can be restrained. In addition, when this switch unit is used in the portable terminal device, for example, selector cursor key switches and a fixer key switch can be disposed adjacently to each other in planar view so that their keypads can be integrated. As a result, the space for a key input portion can be reduced, so that it is possible to obtain a portable terminal device which is small in size, low in cost and superior in operation performance.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a switch unit comprising two layers of printed boards disposed inside a housing, the printed boards being provided with switches respectively so that the switches can be operated by pushing keypads provided on the housing. Thus, the two kinds of switches can be disposed adjacently to each other in planar view. Accordingly, the switch unit can be miniaturized, and the structure can be also simplified, so that the cost can be restrained.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a switch unit comprising two layers of printed boards disposed inside a housing, the printed boards being provided with switches respectively so that the switches can be operated by pushing a single keypad provided on the housing. Thus, the two kinds of switches can be disposed adjacently to each other in planar view, so that their keypads can be miniaturized by integral forming. Accordingly, the switch unit can be miniaturized, and the structure can be also simplified, so that the cost can be restrained.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the keypad is formed from an elastic material in the switch unit, so that the switches can be p,shed and operated by the elastic deformation of the elastic material.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the elastic material is an elastomer material in the switch unit of the third aspect. Accordingly, the switches can be pushed and operated by the elastic deformation of the elastomer material.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the switch unit, an input key of the switch provided on one of the two layers of printed boards is disposed at a center of the keypad while an input key of the switch provided on the other printed board is disposed around the input key disposed at the center. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the miniaturization and operation performance of the keypad.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the switch unit, the one printed board is disposed on the keypad side while the other printed board is disposed on the opposite side to the keypad, and wherein the keypad has a protrusion portion disposed to penetrate a hole provided in the one printed board so as to face the switch provided on the one printed board, so that the switch provided on the one printed board is operated through the protrusion portion when the keypad is pushed. Accordingly, the switches provided on the two layers of printed boards can be operated through one keypad, and the switches are located at high and low levels separately. The degree of freedom on structure is therefore increased so that the structure can be simplified.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the switch provided on the above-mentioned one printed board, that is, on the printed board on the keypad side is a contact switch in the switch unit. The switch can be therefore operated by pushing the keypad.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the switch unit, the keypad is formed from an elastomer material transmitting light, and wherein back light lamps different in colors are disposed on the two layers of printed boards respectively. Accordingly, by lighting these back light lamps individually, the selector cursor key portion and the fixer key portion can be indicated distinctively, for example, in the condition that it is dark in the surroundings.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the switch unit, the switch provided on one of the two layers of printed boards is a multi-input switch having n contact circuits. Accordingly, the switch can be formed as a multi-input switch having switch circuits numbering in n which is an optional number.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable terminal device using a switch unit comprising two layers of printed boards disposed inside a housing, the printed board being provided with switches respectively so that the switches can be operated by pushing keypads provided on the housing. It is therefore possible to obtain a portable terminal device which is small in size, low in cost and superior in operation performance, using a switch unit in which two kinds of switches can be disposed adjacently to each other in planar view so that the switch unit can be miniaturized, and the structure can be also simplified so that the cost can be restrained.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable terminal device using a switch unit comprising two layers of printed boards disposed inside a housing, the printed board being provided with switches respectively so that the switches can be operated by pushing a single keypad provided on the housing. It is therefore possible to obtain portable terminal device which is small in size, low in cost and superior in operation performance, using a switch unit in which two kinds of switches can be disposed adjacently to each other in planar view, and their keypads can be miniaturized by integral forming, so that the switch unit can be miniaturized, the structure can be also simplified, and the cost can be restrained.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable terminal the comprising: a display portion for displaying data including characters; an input portion for selecting and fixing the data displayed on the display portion; a control portion for displaying the data selected and fixed by the input portion on the display portion; and a memory portion for storing the data; the input portion including a switch unit constituted by a selector cursor key switch for selecting data displayed on the display portion, a fixer key switch for fixing the selected data, and keypads for operating the selector cursor key switch and the fixer key switch respectively by depression of the key-pads; wherein the keypads for operating the selector cursor key switch and the fixer key switch respectively are formed into an integrated keypad. It is therefore possible to obtain the portable terminal device which is small in size, low in cost and superior in operation performance, using a switch unit in which the selector cursor key switches and the fixer key switch can be disposed adjacently to each other in planar view, and their keypads can be miniaturized by integral forming, so that the switch unit can be miniaturized, the structure can be also simplified, and the cost can be restrained.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device, the input portion includes ten-key switches and ten-keypads for operating the ten-key switches when being pushed. Accordingly, numerical values can be inputted through the ten-key switches.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device, the integrated keypad of the switch unit is formed from an elastic material. Accordingly, the respective switches can be pushed and operated by the elastic deformation of the elastic material.
According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device, the elastic material is an elastomer material. Accordingly, the respective switches can be pushed and operated by the elastic deformation of the elastomer material.
According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device, a fixer key is disposed at a center of the integrated keypad while selector cursor keys are disposed around the fixer key. It is therefore possible to improve the miniaturization and operation performance of the keypad.
According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device, the selector cursor key switch and fixer key switch of the switch unit are provided on a printed board disposed inside a portable terminal device housing, and wherein the integrated keypad for operating the selector cursor key switch and fixer key switch of the switch unit is provided on the portable terminal device housing. Since the switch housing is constituted by use of the portable terminal device housing, the cost is restrained from increasing.
According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device, the selector cursor key switch and fixer key switch of the switch unit are provided on two separately disposed layers of printed boards respectively. It is therefore possible to obtain portable terminal device which is small in size, low in cost and superior in operation performance, using a switch unit in which the selector cursor key switches and the fixer key switch can be disposed adjacently to each other in planar view, and their keypads can be miniaturized by integral forming, so that the switch unit can be miniaturized, the structure can be also simplified, and the cost can be restrained.
According to a ninteenth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device, the switch unit is configured so that a first one of the printed boards provided with the selector cursor key switch is disposed on the integrated keypad side while a second one of the printed boards provided with the fixer key switch is disposed on the opposite side to the integrated keypad of the first printed board, and wherein the integrated keypad has a protrusion portion which is made to penetrate a hole provided in the first printed board so as to face the fixer key switch so that the fixer key switch is operated through the protrusion portion when the integrated keypad is pushed. The selector cursor key switch and the fixer key switch provided on two layers of printed boards can be operated through one keypad respectively, and the switches are located at high and low levels separately. The degree of freedom on structure is therefore increased so that the structure can be simplified. As a result, it is possible to make the portable terminal device small in size, low in cost and improved in operation performance.
According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device, the selector cursor key switch is a contact switch. Accordingly, the switch can be operated by pushing the keypad.
According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the portable terminal device, the integrated keypad is formed from an elastomer material transmitting light, and wherein back light lamps in different colors are disposed on the first and second printed boards respectively. Accordingly, by lighting these back light lamps individually, the selector cursor key portion and the fixer key portion can be indicated distinctively, for example, in the condition that it is dark in the surroundings.
According to a twenty-second aspect of the invention, in the portable terminal device, the selector cursor key switch is a multi-input switch having n contact circuits. Accordingly, the switch can be formed as a multi-input switch having switch circuits numbering in n which is an optional number.